Ozeri Fresco Salt & Pepper Mill

I love kitchen gadgets and Ozeri makes a lot of them!

Recently, I was given the opportunity to try the Ozeri Fresco Salt and Pepper mill set. I loved that this set was two separate pieces and they both fit nicely in my kitchen. Stainless steel styled items are my favorite for kitchens because they are easy to clean and look nice and classy. I had to add rainbow peppercorns to my mill so I could how you how nice they look in it.

I found this set easy to fill. Just unscrew the top “bulb” and take the lid off, fill, and replace lid. This makes the set easy to clean as well.

For scale, I have put one in my hand so you can see that this set is not huge. I love that it is small. Just think how great this would be to take on a picnic. No more lugging bulky large mills with you and now you can enjoy fresh salt and pepper!

This design is simple, sleek and timeless.

Ozeri has a wonderful line of kitchen products from woks to scales. Make sure you check out all they have to offer on the website!

 

 

And the Major Anxiety Sets in…

I hope by now, my readers know I go in for a breast reduction surgery tomorrow afternoon. I am seriously freaking out! I have been nervous since I found out I was going to get it even though I had worked on getting the medical documentation for over 2 years to get it approved by insurance.

Its as if the reality is setting in. Tomorrow, my life will change in a big way. I have been told the relief from back and neck pain is almost immediate, my breathing will be better and I will be so happy I did this. I have to admit, though, as much as I am tired of being defined by my bust size, I will maybe miss them as well. It is certinally bittersweet.

I just hope the pain is not intolerable afterwords. I am a big nanny boo boo baby when it comes to pain. I am more worried about the pain after the liposuction than the other for some reason. I will be getting liposuction in my underarm area to removed excess breast fat there.

Is it silly that I am worried about being under anesthesia for 4 hours? The surgery is approximately that long and it just worries me being under that long. I am a person who has a hard time letting go. It’s not that I am a control freak, but I just don’t like having my life hanging on by someone else.

All in all, I am excited to start this new life. I will be making a video tomorrow right before I head out to go to the hospital. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

 

Worried about the upcoming holidays financially?

 

This time of year, many people start frantically trying to figure out whether they will make it through the holdays financially. Will you be able to afford to get your kids gifts? What about the holiday meals?

I wanted to write an article on how I save money for this busy time of year.

  • Try selling some of your old stuff on ebay or craigslist now and putting away and money you make for the holidays.
  • Save all change! think those pennies are worthless? You would be surprised at how fast change adds up. When you go to do your holiday shopping, just take them to your bank or a coinstar (coinstar has fees though!) machine and get dollar bills.
  • Get your kids involved in saving all cans and bottles and recycling once a week. Put all the money aside for holiday shopping.
  • Eat out just one less time per month from now until Christmas. Depending on your family size, this could be an extra 20-30 dollars saved, and by the time Black Friday comes around. you could have well over an extra 100 dollars to shop with!
  • Check out last minute yard sales now that it is the end of the summer. Many times, you will find NEW items with tags still attached you could use for gifts this Christmas.
  • If you are not on any contact, cut your cable and get Netflix at least until the holidays are over. Netflix is only $7.99 a month. This could save a ton!
  • Start looking up things you could make for many of the people on your list. Handmade items are often cheaper and more valued than some store bought things could ever be! I am hoping to have some DIY crafts on my blog as the holidays draw closer.

I hope these tips will help ease some of the holiday stress that is sure to come our ways. You could always start shopping now as well and just get a few things every month. This could help spread the finances over time.

Photo via flickr by KB35

My Tiny Harvest

I was so happy the other day when i was able to finally harvest my beans. I had already picked the few peas I could salvage from the deer stopping by and I was happy there were enough beans left to make a meal.

I decided to make stew and add the beans to it.

It really is amazing how wonderful it is to grow your own food in a garden. I have never had much luck keeping away deer or getting enough sun because of our location, but it is still fun to do! I look forward to one day having a big enough space to be able to do a huge garden.

I have not picked the carrots yet, but I am hoping they turned out ok and I planted some purple ones 😉

 

Mr. Chewy

A lot of shopping is done online these days and I love that you can pretty much buy everything you need on the web.

I love my cat as well, but to be perfectly honest, I hate lugging his food and litter inside after a trip to the store to pick up his supplies. In all honesty, sometimes they will sit ion the trunk of my car because I am too lazy or in too much pain to carry them in.

That is why I love Mr. Chewy. Mr. Chewy is an online retailer of just dog & cat food as well as treats and litter. It’s a simple sit to use and there is even 27/7 chat online with a representative.

I had never ordered from an online animal supply retailer. I was very happy when I was able to do so with Mr. Chewy. I got a huge bag of cat food, a new litter I had never tried because of price locally (it was cheaper on Mr. Chewy!) and a couple little extras like treats and litter box deodorizer!

I was very happy with how fast it came. The only thing I was not very happy about was that the box was crushed and ripped on one corner. Mac, my cat, was very happy with the box as you can see in the picture above. It was not a big deal though, because everything was in tact and inside just fine.

I love that Mr. Chewy carries a huge selection of cat food. To be honest, I didn’t even look at the Dog side of the website because I do not own a dog. I saw so many different types of cat food from the moderate price range to higher end. I noticed Mr. Chewy carries even prescription foods for animals with special diets.

Another great feature of the website is that you can sign up for automatic delivery. You will never have to worry about running out of food or hauling it in your house from the car again!

For your favorite little furballs, make sure you save your back and make life easier by checking out all that Mr. Chewy has to offer! Right now you get FREE shipping on any order over $49.95!

Looking for a Great Place to Find Out How to Live Life to the Fullest?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of My Well-Being Powered by Humana for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When people think of health, they often think of physical health and your health is so much more than that! Your over-all well-being is not just what's going on physically inside your body, but how you feel, too.

I found a great place to learn more about how to take care of yourself altogether and its called My Well-Being and it's sponsored by the company Humana.

Your well-being is so important to an over good quality of life. Have you ever wondered how stress can zap all your energy and what to do about it? Why having good friends makes for a much more positive outlook on life?

On My Well-Being you can find out how to live life to the fullest and see what may be holding you back. You can find out more on how having an over all well-being can improve your health and wellness! Just join and take the short Well-Being assessment and you will find out how to improve on parts of your life you may not be happy with.

Just check out this wonderful video on the website and see how you can apply this great online tool to your life!

About MyWell-Being from mywell-being on Vimeo.

I loved the site because it not only has a boatload of health information, but it was different from other health sites because it focused on the "whole person". My Well-Being has information on money management, how to improve relationships with loved ones, and even games, videos and a special marketplace for members of the site.

If all that isn't enough for you, there is a FREE Dummies book for everyone who signs up! This book is absolutely free and even shipping is covered. All the info, games and tools on My Well-Being are free.

So what do you have to lose by checking out this site besides things in your life that may be holding you back from living it to the fullest?

 

 

Visit Sponsor's Site

Candy.com

As most of my readers know, I am a diabetic. So why am I writing an article on candy?

I am writing an article on candy because I want everyone to know about the great selection of candy that is out there for diabetics and where you can find them!

Just because I cannot have too much sugar doesn’t mean I have to miss out on the sweet treats I love. It’s terrible and almost a cruel joke to be a diabetic and have a sweet tooth.

On Candy.com, there is a HUGE selection of sugar free delights. I was sent a gigantic bag of gummy fish and a 10 flavor sampler pack of Jelly Belly jelly beans, both sugar free. I didn’t even know either existed before looking at the Candy.com website. I was tired of the old sugar free stand-bys of hard candies. My true ‘addiction’ is gummy candies!

I would have put a picture of my own opened box of Jelly Bellys here, but I forgot to take a picture and didn’t realize it until they were all gone!

Not only would sugar free candies be great for a diabetic loved one, but they are great for kids if you don’t want them to have too much sugar. Trust me, they won’t be able to tell the difference. I gave my daughter some of my gummy fish and she had no idea they were not full of sugar.

Not only does Candy.com sell sugar free candy (at a very impressive selection!), but they sell all your sugar filled favorites, as well as Kosher, gluten free, organic, natural and even retro and nostalgic candy!

If I wanted to pretend for a brief moment I was not diabetic. I could go crazy on a website like this!

I love that the website is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate. There is even live chat with a representative!I found the customer service to be friendly and the shipping was fast and my candy arrived in good order even in the heat of the summer!

For your next party or for some back to school treats, make sure you check out Candy.com

Sponged-Tipped Nails Tutorial

I did this look the other day and I was asked how I did it and thought my readers might want to know as well. This is a very simple nail design that just about anyone can do with no special supplies.

First, gather what you will need:

2 nail polishes with complementing colors

Cosmetic sponge

toothpick

plastic saucer you can throw away or wash

 

First, start by painting your nails the color you want to appear in the main nail part. I chose a nice teal. Make sure to put on enough to have a good shade and allow to dry COMPLETELY.

Next, put equal parts of the two nail polishes on the same platter.

Using a toothpick, swirl the colors together but do not combine completely. Take your cosmetic sponge (I use the wedge ones as I think they work the best) and gently pick up some of the colors.

Start at the tip of your nails and GENTLY pat the sponge on the nail until you get the desired effect, leaving the bottom of the nail alone. Being gentle and working on nails that are dry is very important or you will end up with a rough texture.

Allow to dry completely and apply a top coat. You are done!

Sweat Block

Since most of my readers know I don’t shy away from most subjects most people find embarrassing, I have no problem sharing the fact that I sweat something fierce. I have always been this way. I can’t even really use “regular” deodorant/antiperspirant because it is not effective enough for me. I was using a brand called Mitchem because I found it was the most reasonable in both price and effectiveness.

I thought I would give the brand Sweat Block a chance because it promised to get rid of even the most heavy unwanted sweating for several days with no need to reapply.

Sweat Block was featured on the Racheal Ray show and tested by firefighters!

Sweat block is not like other antiperspirants. It is not in a stick form, but rather a towelette that you pat on.

First you start with a clean, dry underarm area. Next you pat on the product and allow to dry. You pat the product on because it is so strong it could irritate if you rubbed.

I did this “experiment” and let me tell you-I was super impressed. The amount of time it works for it is individual, but for me, I went a full 4 days without re-applying. I did not notice any sweating at all from the region it was applied during that time. This was a very strange feeling because the week I used it, it was over 100 degrees outside and I was sweating everywhere else!

On the 5th day, I only was slightly moist in my underarm area. I had no need to apply deodorant as I found it kept odor at bay for me.

You can use this in conjunction with a deodorant if you find you need odor protection still.

I did not have any irritation with my skin.

I was very happy to see Sweat block in my local Walmart for a very reasonable price. Each box contains 8 towelettes and each towelette can last up to a week, depending on the individual. You can purchase Sweat Block on the website for $15.99.

Get Creative with Ramen Noodles!

Every College age person knows all about the “Ramen Noodle Diet” where you find creative ways to use the infamously cheap food staple.

At my house we use them for a lot. I wanted to share some of their many uses!

 

~ Use them to add crunch to your salads. Just break some up in a package and throw on!

~ Make your own stir Fry with just a bit of soy sauce or teriyaki sauce and some canned veggies and chicken

~ Mix them with tomato soup and you have yourself a delicious soup!

~ Cook noodles without sauce and drain. Top with Chilli and cheese.

~ Use ramen in place of spaghetti, and make my spaghetti sauce!

~ I found this awesome desert recipe using just ramen, peanut butter and chocolate here.

~ like egg drop soup? Just make ramen as directed and add an egg and stir in.

 

What is your favorite way to eat Ramen Noodles?

 

photo via flickr by Dominik Schwind